Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 388: The Prime Minister's Husband and Wife

"It seems that this plan was proposed and implemented by General Liu." After Liu Qi carefully read the document, he coughed twice and handed the document to Ye Yiwen.

Ye Yiwen just glanced up and down and handed it to Lu You naturally.

Although Liu Huai had already revealed his plan to cut off the enemy's retreat in private letters, Lu You still felt a chill in his heart when the plan actually began.

This is deep in enemy territory.

There are enemies all around us in front and no reinforcements behind us. Any mistake will result in our death and destruction of our army.

"From what I know about Liu Dalang, he has always been daring to be the first in the world, doing what others cannot do." Lu You calmed himself down and handed the document back. "This must have been his initiative. Others don't have this courage."

Liu Qi laughed and said, "Isn't there even one like Li Xianzhong?"

Liu Qi was a member of the Western Army and had fought many battles against the Western Xia. Li Xianzhong and his father, Li Yongqi, were both born on the Song-Xia border, so it was normal for them to have some unconventional ways. There is also a theory that Li Xianzhong's family was simply Tanguts who surrendered to the Central Plains.

Li Yongqi might know something about the specific situation, but Li Xianzhong couldn't explain it clearly.

But today, who dares to say that Li Xianzhong is not a loyal and good man of the Song Dynasty and a pillar of the country?
Even when Liu Qi called Li Xianzhong a "fanzi", it was mostly just a joke between comrades.

Lu You shook his head upon hearing this: "If Li Taiwei were thirty years younger, he might still have such great ambitions, but now, Li Taiwei is old."

Liu Qi nodded and sighed, "Yes, we are all old."

After saying this, Liu Qi looked at Lu You again and said, "Mr. Lu, what do you think of this strategy?"

Lu You was silent for a while, then shook his head and replied, "My military strategy is far inferior to Liu Jinglüe's, and also far inferior to Liu Dalang's. If you two think it's feasible, then it's feasible."

Liu Qi laughed. "As for the situation in Huaixi, I am actually too far away to know. But since Li Zhizhi and Yu Xianggong both think it is feasible, it is probably about the same."

Ye Yiwen felt inexplicably anxious.

Of course, as a minister who was generally recognized to be ignorant of military affairs, this fellow did not think that this move was risky. In fact, when he heard Liu Qi and Lu You both say that this move was feasible, he also felt that it was feasible.

Ye Yiwen just felt that if the Jin army could be defeated, even if he, as the Privy Councilor, did not play a decisive role, he should at least have some presence.

Now it seems that there will be a big move in Huaixi, but Huaidong is still in a stalemate, which is really wrong.

It would be too embarrassing if Mr. Ye was not mentioned in the report of merit.

However, Ye Yiwen was in Huaidong, but he insisted that the credit for Huaixi was due to his planning and victory from thousands of miles away, which was indeed not right.

"Liu Jinglue, should our army also take some action?" Ye Yiwen knew that he knew nothing about military affairs, so he did not dare to propose an attack, but just asked softly.

Liu Qi shook his head slowly.

An old veteran like him who had experienced the ups and downs of officialdom was very clear about the world and had long seen through Ye Yiwen's thoughts.

However, that's not how war is fought.

Although the situation in Huaidong was not as severe as in history, because the Jin army had only 30,000 soldiers and horses, which was invincible in field battles, if the Song army firmly defended the city, it would be difficult for the Jin army to quickly capture the city with its strength.

This is the situation now. Even though Tushan Zhen recruited a large number of signed soldiers and civilians on the spot, and even gathered a group of surrendered Song soldiers to attack Jiangdu, he was unable to capture it due to Li Heng's defense.

Of course, the fact that Liu Qi's main force was stationed at Guazhou Ferry south of Jiangdu at that time was also an important factor that prevented Tushan Zhen from letting go and attacking Jiangdu with all his strength.

Tu Shanzhen worried that if he sent his elite troops to attack the city, Liu Qi would lead a large force to counterattack. If that happened, not only would Jiangdu be impossible to capture, but he might even suffer a crushing defeat. The numerical disadvantage of the Jin army was already becoming apparent at this moment.

If, as happened in history, hundreds of thousands of troops invaded Lianghuai, Tushan Zhen could have used part of his troops to attack the city, and led the remaining troops to cut off Jiangdu's retreat while fiercely attacking Guazhou Ferry.

Now the Song army has established a firm foothold in Huaidong. If Tu Shanzhen divides his troops again, Liu Qi may concentrate his elite forces and risk pulling out the enemy's teeth.

Precisely because Tushan Zhen adopted a relatively conservative strategy, the 30,000 troops under his command were almost intact, and they did not have to worry about baggage supplies after occupying the Grand Canal. Even with Liu Qi's ability, he was helpless in the face of such a large group of Jin troops.

However, facing the opinions of the Privy Councilor, Liu Qi could not pretend that he had heard nothing.

After all, after spending these few days together, Liu Qi had a good impression of Ye Yiwen.

Having self-awareness and not giving chaotic orders is one thing. More importantly, even when the Jin army was dozens of miles away, Lord Ye did not panic, let alone retreat. Instead, he stayed at Guazhou Ferry with the royal banner inscribed with "Everywhere you go, it's as if I were there in person," effectively boosting the morale of the troops.

Since face was mutual, Liu Qi could only explain to Ye Yiwen gently: "Mr. Ye, let me use a military fight as an analogy. A Jin thief and a Song Dynasty thief were fighting. The Song Dynasty was the first to show weakness, and the Jin thief attacked with a few punches, knocking it to the ground. Now the Song Dynasty has retreated a few steps and stabilized its position a little. The Jin thief's previous punches have also exhausted his strength. The two sides are in a stalemate, looking for each other's weaknesses."

"Now that Liu Du is leading the Jingnan Army across the river, it's like the Song Dynasty is throwing a tentative punch to see if it can find a weakness in the Jin bandits. The Jin bandits will react in some way. They might fight back, retreat, or even be stunned by a punch."

"How the Song Dynasty will react next depends on what actions the Jin thieves will take."

"It's not that our Huaidong army can't launch this punch, but we have to wait and see what the Jin thieves will do next before we can launch it. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a useless punch and throw ourselves into disarray?"

Ye Yiwen nodded slowly, not quite understanding.

However, Lu You said, "Liu Jinglüe, although I know nothing about military affairs, I have witnessed battles. I have only one question for you: if the Huaidong army continues to hide at Guazhou Ferry and not fight, and their morale continues to decline, will you be able to strike when the time comes to strike?"

After coughing a few times, Liu Qi was finally speechless.

This is a major problem for the Huaidong army.

The Song army suffered a major defeat in the Huaihe River and Huaibei regions. Only 5,000 elite soldiers were left in the Huaihe River area. Although the troops in the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River areas retreated faster and did not suffer large-scale casualties, they were still a group of discouraged and cowardly people.

The elite soldiers and generals of the past may have been scared to death and could not fight in the field at all.

An army without the ability to engage in strategic decisive battles can only retreat into the city and hold its ground, allowing the enemy to destroy its economic foundation. After two or three times, the city can no longer be defended.

This is how the Ming Dynasty's rule in the northern Zhili region collapsed in the late Ming Dynasty.

Liu Qi considered for a long time and found that he had only more than 10,000 reliable field troops under his command. Even if Zhang Rong's 3,000 Dongping troops were included, these troops would find it difficult to launch a head-on attack on the Jin army's Yangzhou camp.

Thinking of this, Liu Qi couldn't help but feel resentful again.

Zhang Zigai, Liu Bao and other former Huaidong generals were really outrageous.

These people controlled tens of thousands of troops in the south of the Yangtze River and stationed them in Jiankang and Zhenjiang. Under the pretext of defending the Yangtze River and Lin'an, they hesitated to move forward, completely ignoring his repeated orders as the commander-in-chief of all the imperial armies in Zhenjiang Prefecture to cross the river and join the battle.

However, in the eyes of the imperial court, perhaps Zhang Zigai and his group were loyal, but Liu Qi, who was fighting on the front line despite being ill, was somewhat power-hungry.

"Prime Minister Ye, Staff Officer Lu, this matter requires further consideration. At the very least, the Jin army must be mobilized first." Liu Qi said sternly, "Even if we have to gamble everything, you must let me know exactly where to place this bet."

"As for what Chief of Staff Lu said, it is indeed an important matter." Liu Qi pondered for a moment. "But in my opinion, the situation in Huaibei and Huainan will change drastically. The Huaidong army needs to conserve its strength and not act rashly."

Lu You looked at the Privy Councilor on his left who knew nothing about military affairs, and then looked at the Minister of Generalissimo on his right who looked sick, and couldn't help but sigh. It was also difficult to persuade them.

(End of this chapter)